Nie Wencheng seemed to have stopped thinking.
He unconsciously rubbed the corner of the printed paper with his thumb, his eyes fixed on the bold and powerful signature at the bottom, his thin lips pressed tightly together.
Suddenly, he felt a sort of survival from the jaws of death relief, so overwhelming that it bypassed his rationality and left him a bit at a loss, with only one thought remaining in his mind:
Does Wan Xu know?
Does Wan Xu know it was him?
In his mind, those crystal-clear amber eyes from that night surfaced unbidden.
“Hey.” Lu Jiangwan waved his hand in front of him. “Nie Wencheng?”
The smile on Nie Wencheng’s face vanished instantly.
A corner of the printed paper had already been twisted into creases by his fingers. He let go of his grip, took a deep breath to steady his emotions, and asked Lu Jiangwan in a suppressed voice: “Then does he know?”
Recalling Wan Ting’s message, Lu Jiangwan thought for a moment and ultimately told the truth: “He doesn’t know.”
The tiny glimmer of light in Nie Wencheng’s eyes instantly dimmed, and he let out a glum “Oh.”
“Brother,” Lu Jiangwan asked tentatively again, “Are you still calling off the engagement?”
Nie Wencheng pretended to flip through the contract and ignored him.
Having lost his information advantage after the secret was exposed, Lu Jiangwan didn’t have the face to continue teasing him: “Then take your time reading. I’ll head back first, shall I?”
“Don’t rush. Finish modifying the contract.” Nie Wencheng pushed the folder forward. “Add the escalation clause, give him the right of first refusal for lease renewal, and give him another discount on utilities.”
Lu Jiangwan pressed his hand down on the folder, interrupting him: “President Nie, in such a rush, and you aren’t even going to walk through the proper procedures?”
Nie Wencheng clasped his hands together and said, “We’re all our own people.”
“Ten minutes ago you weren’t saying that, Nie Wencheng.” Lu Jiangwan raised the folder and tapped it lightly against Nie Wencheng’s head. “Calling off the engagement, business partners, hah.” He offered a stingy evaluation. “It couldn’t possibly be compensation, could it?”
“You could put it that way.” Nie Wencheng had already completely adjusted his state of mind. “When it all comes down to it, the night before yesterday was just an accident. He doesn’t know that the person who marked him was me, and I can’t use this matter to force him into marrying me.”
“You could choose to tell him right now. He’s currently lying in the Municipal People’s Hospital because of you.” Lu Jiangwan made a polite gesture of invitation. “Of course, you can also continue playing ignorant and act like an upright gentleman until the day of the engagement banquet, when either you or the young master of the Wan family takes the initiative to kick the other person to the curb. Suit yourself.”
Nie Wencheng propped his head up with one hand and asked, “Lu Jiangwan, why are you so invested in my marriage?”
Lu Jiangwan chuckled dryly, tucked the folder under his arm, and bolted away in a flash.
The small meeting room was left with only Nie Wencheng inside.
He leaned back against his chair, his hands crossed over his chest, propping himself up with one foot on the floor while lazily spinning his chair around.
Lu Jiangwan’s words had completely disrupted all his plans.
The engagement banquet agreed upon by the elders of both families was a month away. According to the original plan, at the banquet the night before yesterday, he was supposed to make an initial acquaintance with his fiancé of five years, whom he had never met. He could have figured out Wan Xu’s perspective on this political marriage to plan their next step: whether to call it off or enter a marriage of convenience.
Instead, through a bizarre twist of fate, he had marked Wan Xu.
Reason told him that his optimal solution right now was to find Wan Xu and explain things face-to-face: temporarily marking Wan Xu had been an accident, merely a temporary mark that would soon fade away, and he would not use it as leverage to force Wan Xu to stay by his side. But at the same time, he lacked the courage to go looking for Wan Xu because he was also at fault.
Young Master Nie’s lofty moral compass and biological instincts were currently duking it out.
One voice told him: You will only ever encounter one soulmate like Wan Xu in your entire life. If you miss him, you’ll be a half-crippled Alpha for the rest of your days. You’ll end up marrying someone you don’t love and living a muddled life until the end, and you need to seize this marriage opportunity to lock him firmly by your side.
Another voice argued that Wan Xu was also an independent individual with his own thoughts, that the one-night encounter the night before yesterday was purely an accident, and that he had merely happened to cross paths with Wan Xu just as Wan Xu happened to reach out to him: nothing more, nothing less.
The chair slowly ground to a halt.
Nie Wencheng stared up at the ceiling, remaining motionless for a long time.
Wan Xu’s physical condition had initially improved after receiving an IV drip, but getting so worked up after the blowout with Wan Jianming caused his recovery to take a nosedive, leaving the hospital with no choice but to advise him to stay under observation for another two days. Wan Ting, as a potential source of stress, was strictly prohibited from setting foot within half a step of the hospital room.
While pacing back and forth outside the door, Wan Ting saw Aunt Hao, who was responsible for looking after Wan Xu, standing at the entrance, hesitating to speak several times.
“Xiao Xu fell asleep,” she said.
Wan Ting stopped his pacing and listened quietly to what she had to say.
Having worked as a nanny in the Wan household for over a decade, Aunt Hao was long accustomed to Wan Xu getting into blazing rows with his old man every year ever since he reached adulthood.
“He’s a young man with a mind of his own,” Aunt Hao said, keeping her head down as she nervously clutched the corner of her clothes. “I know it’s not my place to say this, but Eldest Young Master, could you please…”
“Aunt Hao, in front of Grandfather, my words don’t carry any weight either.” Wan Ting’s tone was filled with helplessness. “Xiao Xu is different; he’s a rare Omega. If he doesn’t marry into the Nie family, he’ll just have to marry someone else. At the very least, this current fiancé is someone whose background we know inside and out, and he’s an honest man. Xiao Xu won’t suffer hardships if he marries over there.”
“I know he’s unhappy about it, but there’s nothing that can be done. Since he carries the Wan surname, he has to shoulder his share of responsibility for the Wan family.”
As Wan Ting spoke these words, his gaze remained fixed on the tightly shut door of the ward.
He felt some regret that he hadn’t stepped forward to stop it that night.
Nie Wencheng hadn’t known that person was Wan Xu; he had simply lent a helping hand to an Omega in heat.
Wan Xu hadn’t known that person was Nie Wencheng; he had simply grabbed a passing Alpha out of necessity.
But he knew.
He had witnessed the whole thing from start to finish.
The temporary mark had already become an established fact. If Wan Xu were to find out that the person who marked him was Nie Wencheng, given his stubborn personality, the engagement would undoubtedly be ruined.
Yet the conditions offered by the Nie family…
Wan Ting clenched his fists. He told himself this was for Xiao Xu’s own good. Omegas always had to marry eventually, and Nie Wencheng was still better than a complete stranger.
The acquisition proposal delivered by Nie’s father last week was critically important to him.
He relaxed his clenched fists and pushed his hands into his pants pockets.
Gazing through the glass pane on the ward door, he saw Wan Xu on the bed stir, then reach out to grab his phone and answer a call.
“Hello?” Wan Xu asked, still half-asleep and feeling rather displeased by the sudden ringing.
“Boss, we nailed it!” Yu Dong’s overly excited voice came through the other end. “Not only did Manager Lu secure the workspace for us, but he also agreed to invest capital in us!”
“Huh?”
“He just called and asked me to come out and sign the contract.”
“You don’t. Have Little Radish go with you instead,” Wan Xu said, his voice still weak. “She’s supposed to be coming over today anyway.”
“Little Radish” was the nickname for Luo Bin, their junior in school who was handling a portion of the coding. She was much better at interpersonal matters than the single-minded Yu Dong, so having her accompany him gave Wan Xu a greater sense of peace of mind.
After hanging up the phone, Wan Xu prepared to pull the blanket over his head and go back to sleep, only to notice Wan Ting standing in the doorway. Wearing a suppression patch, Wan Ting looked as though he wanted to speak with him.
“What’s wrong, Big Brother?” Wan Xu sat up. “I’m fine, you go take care of your work.”
Wan Ting’s gaze landed on Wan Xu’s phone, where their three-person group chat was continuously popping up with new messages, presumably celebrating securing the investment. The text was rather small, so Wan Ting couldn’t see it very clearly.
Subconsciously, Wan Xu pulled his phone back a bit.
“I wanted to ask you something,” Wan Ting said, sitting down beside him and getting straight to the point. “What is your stance on political marriages?”
Wan Xu remained silent.
“It’s fine, you can speak honestly with me. I won’t force you, I just want to know what you’re thinking.” Wan Ting unconsciously softened his tone.
“I…” Wan Xu hesitated before answering honestly, “I don’t want to get married.”
“Why is that?”
“It’s just really terrifying,” Wan Xu mumbled. “I don’t want to hand my entire life over to a total stranger.”
Indicated that he understood, Wan Ting then asked, “Are you truly set on calling off the engagement?”
Wan Xu nodded with certainty.
“If, and I’m just saying if,” Wan Ting carefully cobbled his phrasing together, “you happened to have intimate relations with your prospective marriage partner…”
“Big Brother.” Wan Xu curled his lip and interrupted, “How did you turn into such an old-fashioned conservative?”
Wan Ting smiled awkwardly and didn’t retort.
“Big Brother, I know what you’re worried about. I promise you,” Wan Xu relented. “Even if I want to call off the engagement, I won’t bring it up to Grandfather before the engagement banquet concludes. I’ll go speak with Young Master Nie myself. I’ll maintain outward civility, as long as he doesn’t interfere with my work.”
Wan Ting opened his mouth, closed it again, and instead asked, “How is your development progress coming along?”
When the topic shifted to gaming, Wan Xu’s attitude underwent a complete 180-degree turn, and he excitedly declared, “We just rented the space, and next we’ll probably recruit another batch of programmers. If things go fast, we can put together a playable demo ready for storefront listing by the end of the year.”
“Where did you rent the place?” Wan Ting asked.
“Tianchen Technology Industrial Park.”
Wan Ting’s right eyelid twitched involuntarily.
“That investor of yours, what’s his name?” he continued to press.
Wan Ting had never shown this level of attentiveness toward his projects before. Finding it strange, Wan Xu chose not to conceal the truth: “His name is Lu Shen.”
Wan Ting visibly let out a sigh of relief.
“So, what are your plans moving forward?” he asked.
“A month is pretty tight to make much of anything; the main focus will be recruiting people and getting the team established first,” Wan Xu explained. “Don’t worry, Big Brother, I promise I won’t cause any more trouble.”
“No, that’s not what I meant,” Wan Ting clarified. “With you kicking up such a fuss with Second Uncle, where are you going to live? What are you going to eat?”
“I’m living with my college classmate in the apartment he rents,” Wan Xu explained. “We’ll just make do.”
Breathing a long sigh of relief, Wan Ting fished out his phone and transferred a large sum of money to him.
“Let’s get this straight, this money is my sponsorship for you, not from the Wan family. You’ll have to pay me back once you start making a profit.” Wan Ting ruffled his younger brother’s hair. “Get some good rest. I’ll shield you from whatever pressure comes from the family side, so go ahead and do your thing without holding back.”
When Wan Ting looked up, the little guy was already tearing up, throwing his arms around him: “Big Brother, you’re the best.”
Wan Ting’s hand stiffened for a brief moment before coming down to pat Wan Xu’s back.
Having said what needed to be said, Wan Ting had also tested the waters and figured out where Wan Xu stood.
He still decided against spilling the beans about Nie Wencheng for now. After all, for that Alpha, the primary task right now was protecting his reputation in front of his fiancée.
Since Nie Wencheng didn’t know who the Omega he marked was either, they might as well keep up appearances so that parting ways amicably later would be easier, right?
After Wan Ting left, Wan Xu immediately unlocked his phone and tapped open the chat window.
[Little Radish]: All sorted out, Xu-ge. The contract has no issues at all. They said given that we’re a startup, they’re giving us their most favorable policy terms. This Boss Lu is seriously righteous!
[Little Radish]: Oh right, about that surveillance footage you asked me to check the other day, my sister said the hotel management didn’t hand it over, claiming something broke. Hey, do you think there’s something fishy going on?
The hotel surveillance footage was broken?
Wan Xu stroked his chin, pondering thoughtfully for a moment.
Was that just an excuse?
Could anyone else possibly know about him being taken away? Were they trying to spare him embarrassment?
No, that wasn’t right.
Wan Ting had already been gone for a while. Staring at the empty doorway, Wan Xu recalled the question Wan Ting had asked him earlier: “If you happened to have intimate relations…”
Wan Ting never asked questions like that. He didn’t even bother inquiring about who Wan Xu made friends with, so why would he suddenly care whether he and his marriage partner had been intimate?
Wan Ting… had he figured something out?
Wan Xu shook his head, casting all those unrealistic thoughts far away.
Without surveillance footage, tracking down who was there that night was going to be tricky.
[No worries, I’ll figure out another way.]
After sending the message, he locked his phone screen and took a deep breath.
If Wan Ting really did see, why didn’t he stop it?
And if Wan Ting didn’t see, why on earth would he ask a question like that?